The biggest accomplishment, in racial terms, for Barack Obama was being elected. He had to overcome his blackness to be elected. He climbed the Mt. Everest of American politics, becoming an historic first.

There are some people who make a big distinction between n - a, which they say is OK, and n - - . Now, in my view, it's important to know about that distinction, because some people put a lot of weight on it. I don't.

What people should do is explain to their friends, to their neighbors how they feel when they confront the word n - - and why they feel the way they feel.

The infamy of n - - is - it's a word that has been used to terrorize people, to put people down. But it has also been used in other ways. It's also been used as a way of putting a mirror up to racism.

Any successful black person will have to face suspicion within his or her own community about his or her loyalty to other blacks.

I will say go into the world and try to find good people that feel genuine affection and love for you, and disregard everything else about their background.

Language of the Gun shows why Bernard Harcourt has earned a reputation as one of our most provocative and informative analysts of the administration of criminal justice. Thoroughly interdisciplinary, he brings to bear on his subject a remarkably wide range of sources. Most striking are his probing interviews with at-risk youths which provide a fascinating and rare glimpse into how they think about guns and gun carrying. This book bristles with insight and information.